Language Tweets

Taiwan independence posters in polysyllabic characters: Lisa in Toronto found these posters in Taipei at Cafe Macho in November. They say #newyearnewnation in one corner. There are two posters, each with a disyllabic character: dúlì 獨立 ("independence")… dlvr.it/QHKGGl

Face, B face, 13 face, and C face: A student called my attention to this cloying glorification of PRC President Xi Jinping: The Chinese title of the video, produced by CCTV (China Central Television [China's state television broadcaster]) is "Jiā guó… dlvr.it/QHK7rw

Anime: Today's Dumbing of Age illustrates, in contemporary Indiana, a point that George Bernard Shaw made about England in 1916: "It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him." Mouseover… dlvr.it/QHGJMY

The expression 'the greatest thing since sliced bread' came into prominence in the 1960s, hearkening back to the to the impact that the invention of the bread slicer had on society during the Great Depression 🍞🥪 bit.ly/2CbUm9K

A 'lipogram' is a composition from which the writer systematically omits one, or more, letters of the alphabet. Ernest Vincent Wright’s novel 'Gadsby' did not use the letter 'e' in any of its 50,110 words! bit.ly/2Cz3px6

A constant, guiding presence: Tomorrow there will be a memorial service for Aravind Joshi, who died on the last day of 2017 ("R.I.P. Aravind Joshi", 1/1/2018). Martha Palmer, who is flying in from Colorado for the event, sent me this remembrance:… dlvr.it/QH8zpZ